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The first period didn't start well for Sean Josling on Sunday, but the rest of the frame couldn't have gone much better.

After picking up a penalty in the opening minute, Josling returned to score the Sarnia Sting's first two goals in a 6-2 win over the Flint Firebirds.

He finished with a season-high three points as the Sting ran their winning streak to 13 games in front of 2,778 fans at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.

“We don't want to give up a 13-game win streak, so I think it kind of pushes the boys a little more every game we win,” Josling said.

The Sting had to kill off a two-man power play lasting 1:55 after Theo Calvas and Josling were whistled for penalties five seconds apart in the first minute.

“Me and Theo were in the box and we said, 'If we kill this off, our team's going to have a lot of momentum,'” Josling said. “I think we did a great job after we killed those penalties. We just took it to them.”

Josling opened the scoring at 6:20 off a nice two-on-one pass from Ryan McGregor.

He scored again at 9:03 by crashing the net to put in another feed from McGregor.

Linemate Hugo Leufvenius also had two assists as the trio combined for seven points.

“We were just doing the little things right, like chipping pucks deep, and it worked for us today,” said Josling, who has seven goals in his last nine games.

The Sting led 2-0 after the first period despite being outshot 12-5.

Sting goalie Aidan Hughes improved to 4-0 by making 28 saves as the Sting were outshot 30-26 overall.

“We were pretty up and down,” Leufvenius said. “I think we need to play better. We need to get the puck more out of our zone pretty much easier and then take the puck to the net. I think our line did that a lot and that's why we got a couple of goals.

“We're still on our winning streak here and we'll keep fighting for it and keep it going as long we can.”

Drake Rymsha, Jordan Kyrou, Jordan Ernst and Adam Ruzicka also scored for the Sting (14-1-0-0), who are ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League.

It was their first game since beating the No. 6 Soo Greyhounds 6-3 on Friday before more than 4,000 fans at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.

The crowd wasn't as fired up Sunday, but Leufvenius said the players were.

“It's the same for every game,” he said. “Every game is not easy. We have to focus really hard for every game and know what we've got to do on the ice and know how good the enemy team is always, so we need to prepare very well and go out there and do what we do.”

Rymsha scored midway through the second period and Kyrou added a power-play goal at the 12-minute mark for a 4-0 lead.

Jack Phibbs quickly replied for the Firebirds, but Ernst restored the Sting's four-goal lead with 55.8 seconds left in the period.

Ryan Littlejohn scored for the Firebirds early in the third as the Sting started the frame slowly.

Ruzicka beat Flint goalie Garrett Forrest on a late power play to tie Kyrou for the team lead with his 12th goal.

Kyrou is also tied with Aaron Luchuk of the Windsor Spitfires for the OHL scoring lead with 28 points.

Kyrou has 14 points in five games since rookie Jamieson Rees was added to his Rymsha-centred line by head coach Derian Hatcher. The trio has 13 goals and 28 points in that span.

Rees replaced Leufvenius, who has combined with new linemates Josling and McGregor for seven goals and 15 points in five games.

“We all play the same style of game – a little grind, a little skill – so I think that works out for us,” Josling said.

The Sting have a three-game road trip this week. They'll visit Peterborough on Thursday, Kingston on Friday and Ottawa on Sunday before coming home to host the Greyhounds again on Friday, Nov. 10.